Flying Logos and Bitmap Alphabets: Arcade Games Revisited

For this morning’s Daily Heller, I interviewed Kris Johns, the design director of Atari, about the past and present of this pioneering digital-game company. Coincidentally, Idea, Japan’s most elegant and comprehensive design magazine, was delivered today. Lo and behold, the issue is devoted to the graphic design of video arcade games produced by the Bandai Namco, Capcom, and Sega companies. Looking through this profusely illustrated document of the nascent period of electronic gaming, it is hard to believe that it is over 40 years old. Yet to look at the styles of the trademarks, typefaces, and machine designs is to jump back into a past that seemed to fly by as fast as some of the flying logos.

May 2012 issue

This issue of Idea, which is known for its expansive coverage on most all of the topics it covers, features spread after spread on what has become the shiny gothic logo style of video games, as well as a very complete inventory of 8-bit digital typefaces and family variations. Interspersed throughout are photos of the machines, like Sega’s Galaxy Force and Thunder Blade, that are so high-tech as to make a techie’s mouth water. And who can forget (unless you weren’t born yet or are loosing your memory with age) Virtual Cop, a two player shooting game which still exist in some arcades? (This and other issues of Ideacan be found here.)

About Steven Heller

Steven Heller is the co-chair of the SVA MFA Designer /Designer as Author + Entrepreneur program, writes frequently for Wired and Design Observer. He is also the author of over 170 books on design and visual culture. He received the 1999 AIGA Medal and is the 2011 recipient of the Smithsonian National Design Award.